Signature jogging and stacking mechanism



March 26, 1963 F. E. HOWDLE ETAL 3,083,014

SIGNATURE JOGGING AND STACKING MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1960 9Sheets-Sheet 1 mm'm QMWAXW March 26, 1963 F. HOWDLE Em. 3,083,014

SIGNATURE JOGGING AND STACKING MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1960 9Sheets-Sheet 2 3w X 'MW March 26, 1963 F. E. HOWDLE ETAL 3,083,014

SIGNATURE JOGGING AND STACKING MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1960 9Sheets-Sheet 3 March 26, 1963 F. E. HOWDLE ETAL 3,083,014

SIGNATURE JOGGING AND smcxmc MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1960 9 Sheets-Sheet4 March 26, 1963 F. E. HOWDLE ETAL 3,083,014

SIGNATURE JOGGING AND STACKING MECHANISM Filed May 5. 1960 9Sheets-Sheet 5 March 26, 19 63 F. E. HOWDLE ETAL 3,083,014

SIGNATURE JOGGING AND STACKING MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1960 9Sheets-Sheet 6 AIR PESEEI/O/E g MAN/FOLD Marhh 26, 1963 F. E. HOWDLEETAL' 3,083,014

SIGNATURE JOGGING AND $TACKING MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1960 9Sheets-Sheet 7 SKW March 26, 1963 F. E. HOWDLE ETAL 3,083,014

SIGNATURE JOGGING AND STACKING MECHANISM 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed May 5,1960 ma id hwm %e?w 81mm 3 March 26, 1963 F. E. HOWDLE ETAL 3,083,014

SIGNATURE JOGGING AND STACKING MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1960 9Sheets-Sheet 9 ITT) s'awAaf d z" X'WMW United States Patent 3,083,014SIGNATURE JOGGENG AND STAQKING MECHANISM Frederic E. Howdle, Wauwatosa,and John Rauenbuehler, Milwaukee, Wis., assi nors to Cutler-Hammer,Inc., Milwaukee, Win, a corporation of. Delaware Filed May 5,1960, Ser.No. 26996 21 Claims. (Cl. 271-39) This invention relates to mechanismfor horizontallystacking magazine signatures deliveredv 'in anover-lapped stream from a press, and particularly to improved means forjogging the signatures into edge aligned stacks.

In modern machines for selecting and assembling signatures for bindingit is essential, that the stacks of signatures be edge aligned to feedinthe bins and be properly aligned for binding.

The main object of this invention is to provide an efficient, highspeedsautomaticv signature stacker and jogger which will accuratelyalign magazine signatures horizontally superimposed in stacks.

Another object is to provide automatic means formaking such stacks ofuniform predetermined height and for starting one stack while apreceding stack is discharged to an output conveyor.

These objects are accomplished by delivering the stream of overlappedsignatures to be jogged and stacked between resilient bladed rotatingpaddle wheels which contact and lightly impact the opposite edges of thesignatures to impart a jogging or vibratory action to the signatures asthey are stacked. The paddle wheels rotate in' synchroniz ation at aperipheral speed slightly in excess of the speed of the. incomingsignatures. This draws the signatures away from the delivery conveyorafter release thereby and urges each signature against aback plate toalign the leading edges of the signatures. as they are stacked. Thesepaddles are inclined to provide a downward component of force on thesigatures as they are urged against such stop thuskeeping the signaturesunder slight compression as the stacking table drops during the formingof the stack. The paddle blades extend far enough below the incomingstream so that the vibratory action continues to operate on the uppersignatures in the stack until enough signatures have been alignedtoprovide enough weight to prevent shifting of the signatures in thestack after release from the jogging action of the paddle wheels. Whilethe top. few signatures will-V give and momentarily warp under thecompression force. of the blades, the signatures below being held by theweight of signatures on them will not readily warp. Hence, it isdesirable to have the blades of resilient material so that there will besome flexing of that part of the blade which engages such lowersignatures.

As the stack builds, up the stacking table is lowered until a stack of adesired size is-accumulated. Automaticv mechanism then simultaneouslylowers the stacking table to discharge position and places an interceptblade in position to receive the incoming signatures until the stack hasbeen discharged from the table and the table re turned to normalposition. Such mechanism thenv withdraws the intercept blade droppingthe signatures stacked" on it on the stacking table. During thisintercept period thepaddle wheels have aligned the signatures on theintercept blade in the same manner as when stacked on the stackingtable.

Other objects and advantages Will be pointed out in, or be apparentfrom, the specification and claims, as will obvious modifications of thetwo embodiments shown in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a magazine signature stacker and jogger forside folded signatures embodying the inice vention, part being brokenaway for clarity of illustration;

FIG. 2" is a front or receiving end view of the stacker and jogger ofFIG. 1 with portions broken away, thestacking table being shown in itsdischarge position in broken lines;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of such stacker and jogger withthe parts shown in initial operating position;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of such stacker and joggersimilar to FIG. 3 showing the stacking table in a lower position and theintercept blade in intercept position;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a stacker FIG. 10 is adiagrammatic view of the stacker andjogger showing; the positions of thetable, and intercept blade at the instant before the table is lowered todischarge position;

Referring to the drawings; signatures. tobe jogged intoedge alignedstacks; are" delivered from the press to the stacker and jogger in anoverlapped stream on a wire;

belt conveyon The frame. of the stacker and joggerisof standard. design:and its structural elements are not identifiediby reference numerals;Rubber toothed roller 10; the last roller in the delivery conveyor (notshown), is: mounted onftlie, frame and driven by the conveyor wires:11'to inject. the signatures into' the stacker and. jogger. Formingfingers 12 are pivotally mounted. on: the frame and normally: occupy anadvanced. or downwardly angled position (see FIG. 3') to divertthestreanr of signatures downward between. a pair of opposed frontpaddle wheels 14. to the top of a stacking table. The paddle wheels 14as Well as a. similar pair of paddle wheels 2'4 are mounted on shaftsrotatably connected to the frame and simultaneously driven atthe samespeed by a chain and sprocket transmission 18 connected to a motor 16. Alinkage (not. shown) may interconnect movably mounted bearings for theshafts so that the paddl'e'. wheels. may be relatively' adjusted toaccommodate different width signatures. In operation the paddle wheelspacing is adjusted to slightly less than the width of the signatures tobe jogged. The paddle wheels have vanes 19, FIGS. 4, 5 and 8, which areresilient enough to flex as they engage the edges of the. stream ofsignatures. The peripheral speed of the paddle wheels is about tenpercent greater than thevelocity of the incoming signatures" Thus thesignatures are given a multilicity of slight impacts on opposite edges.These im-. pacts. also have acomponent force urging the signaturesforward and into engagement with a stop wall consisting of stop members26, 27, and 29- (see FIG 8).. Thus as the signatures are piled up one onanother in a horizontal layerized stack the upper ones. are continuallyvibrated by these impacts which align their edges from, three sides asthe stack grows in height. Once a suflicient number of signatures havebeen stacked their weight is suflicient to maintain the stack in theevenalignment impartedby the jogging action.

The stack of signatures builds up on a stacking table consisting of aplurality of spaced parallel bars 21, FIG.

3 1 mounted on a transverse plate 13; carried on the end of piston rod90. One of these bars :21a, FIGS. 8 and 9, has a slotted end whichtravels on a guide 20 to maintain the proper alignment of the tableduring the up and down movement of the table which occurs in the stackforming and discharge operation described below.

An important feature of this invention is the inclining of the axis ofrotation of the paddle wheels 14 and 24 about 15 to provide a downwardthrust in the direction of the forward thrust. As the paddle wheelsengage the signatures and thrust them forward they will also thrust themdownwardly. Since the stacking table is continually dropping, thosetopmost signatures which are still contacted by the paddle wheels wouldbe held up and might not readily lower with the stack unless the paddlewheels were inclined as shown. Furthermore, during a stack dischargeperiod when the intercept blade 46 shown in FIGS. 4, 8 and is inoperative position and the forming fingers 12 raised, the stream ofsignatures due to their speed would tend to unduly rise to sail up andnot properly stack on the intercept blade if it were not for'the actionof the inclined paddle wheels. To provide further protection againstsuch sailing, the vanes 19 have enlarged areas or wings 22 at the top.

The back paddle wheels 24 perform an additional jogging an aligningaction on the signatures in the same manner as paddle wheels 14. Withlarge size signatures the use of both sets of paddle wheels is advisablebecause the aligning impacts occur at spaced points on the sides of thesignatures thereby improving the evenness of the stack.

The signatures finally come to rest on the stacking table with theirleading edges against a central stop wall 26 and side stop walls 27.Table bars 21!) and 21d extend beyond wall 26 to prevent signatures fromgetting caught between the bars and the wall, as viewed in FIG. 9. Bar21e serves to actuate limit switch 70 having a function described below.Stop walls 26, 27, 27 extend downwardly below the top table positionshown in FIG. 1 to maintain alignment of the leading edges of thestacked signatures as'the table is lowered prior to stack discharge.

Rather than removing a stack of signatures from the table manually andin stacks of various heights according to the workmans whim, as iscommon in several signature joggers currently on the market, it isdesirable to fully automatize the stacking procedure so that stacks ofuniform height are accumulated in the stacker and jogger and thendischarged onto a conveyor for delivery to the next work station. Theway these stacks are accumulated in the stacker and jogger anddischarged therefrom is next described. In order for the stacker andjogger both to continuously receive signatures and to discharge uniformjogged stacks of signatures it is necessary to provide means forlowering the table out of its normal signature receiving position todeliver the stacks to an output or discharge conveyor 28 shown in FIGS.1 and 2, and at the same time an intercept mechanism must be provided toreceive the signatures delivered to the jogger. These operations arecontrolled by several limit switches having control levers located foractuation by movement of various jogger components. The limit switchescontrol solenoid valves which in turn control fluid cylinders which movethe jogger parts in the desired sequence. For the sake of clarity, thesequential actuation of the limit switches and the efiect of suchactuation on the position of the jogger parts will be described withoutexplaining the particular valve and pressure cylinder cooperationnecessary to accomplish the stated result. The general description willbe followed by a detailed description of limit switch, valve, and fluidcylinder cooperation.

*When the intercept blade 46 is inthe retracted position, shown in FIGS.1 and 3, actuating lever 30 of limit switch 32 shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 6energizes the switch thereby keeping the forming fingers 12 in theadvanced position for diverting signatures down to the paddle wheels andsupplying air pressure to the table lowering mecha nism. The table doesnot lower, however, until the next described cycle occurs. As the stackof signatures builds up on the table one of the control arms 34 shown inFIGS. 3 and 8, which normally rides on actuating lever 36 of limitswitch 38, is lifted oh the arm. Control arms 34 serve to guide thesignatures to the top of the stack as well as sensing stack height. Thiscloses switch 38 which permits the pressure in air and oil cylinder 86to lower the table slowly until lever 36 is again contacted by the arm.The table lowers at a speed slightly in excess of the rate of stackbuildup at maximum jogger speed. Limit switch 38 is intermittentlyopened and closed in this manner until the stack height control 40contacts lever 42 of limit switch 44 shown in FIG. 3. Actuation ofswitch 44 causes intercept blade 46 to advance to a position overlyingthe top of the signatures stacked on the table. The intercept blade sideedges each are captured between spaced guide plates 47 which guide theblade between retracted and extended positions. When side foldedsignatures are being jogged the blade tip 48 is located to one side ofthe jogger as shown in FIG. 4. When the intercept blade reaches theintercept position it actuates lever 50 of limit switch 52 shown in FIG.4 which actuates air cylin-- der 124 thereby moving side blade 54 tooverlap tip 48 of the intercept blade. This side blade is only necessarywhen side folded signatures are being stacked and serves to prevent theintercept blade from slipping between the signature body and folded flapwhich would disrupt the stacking operation. Advance of side blade '54into intercept position actuates lever 56 of limit switch 58 shown inFIGS. 1 and 3 which actuates air cylinder 102 thereby causing theforming fingers 12 to retract out of the way of the intercept blade tothe position shown in FIG. 4. Incoming signatures then begin a stack onthe intercept blade and the leading edges of these signatures arearrested and aligned by stop wall 29. Switch 58 also energizes timersolenoid 60 shown in FIG. 6 which times out in about 2 seconds, which istime enough for the paddles to pull the last signature into position onthe table, as shown in FIG. 10, and then actuates air and oil cylinder86 which quickly lowers the table toward the discharge position. Whenthe table reaches the fully lowered position, the rollers 62 of thedischarge conveyor 28 extend upward between the table parallel bars,shown in broken lines in FIG. 2, so that the stack of signatures (shownin broken lines) is picked up and carried away to the side on thedischarge conveyor 28. When the stack clears the jogger it trips lever64 of limit switch 66 which actuates the table raising mechanism.

When the table has returned to its top position it actuates lever 68 oflimit switch 70 shown in FIG. 3 which actuates air cylinder 116 shown inFIG. 1 which retracts the intercept blade by means of rod 118 connectedto the blade through bracket 119 shovm in FIGS. 4 and 5. When theintercept blade is retracted stop wall 29'wipes the stack on the bladeoff the blade causing the stack to drop on the table which has returnedto its top position. Limit switch 70 also actuates a control panel relay72 which retracts the side blade and drops out the mechanism whichreturned the table to its top position. When the intercept blade isretracted it again bears against lever 30 of limit switch 32 and thejogger is ready for another cycle of operation.

When the jogger is to be used for leading edge folded signatures, theside blade assembly is omitted and an intercept blade is substitutedwhich has its tip 51 behind the center forming linger as shown in FIG.5. Operation of this type machine is the same as that described aboveexcept that limit switch 52 shown in FIG. 1 is omitted and limit switch58 shown in FIG. 3 is repositioned for actuation by the intercept bladewhen it reaches the intercept position. The operation ofswitch 58remains the same. In this modification limit switch 70 is still acluatedwhen the table is returned to top position, but the circuit forretracting the side blade is omitted, the other circuits connected toswitch 70 remaining the same.

The paddle motor 16 and conveyor motor are connected in a conventionalmanner, shown in FIG. 6, for control by contactor solenoids 17- and 23,respectively.

The valves of the jogger are illustrated schematically in FIG. 7. Thesystem includes four. 4-way valves each having'two control solenoidsassociated therewith. Each 4-way valve is shown twice, once in each fiowcondition. The solenoid which produces the illustrated flow condition isshown connected to the box representing that fiow condition. Forexample, when solenoid 74 is described hereafter as being actuated theflow condition of valve 76 is as illustrated in box A and the valveshould be imagined as having outlet ports 80 and 78 connected to oilreservoirline 82 and to air cylinder line 84, respectively. The airlines have been broken away in all views to avoidcluttering thedrawings.

The table is supported in. its top position by an air andoil cylinder 86having a piston88 connected through red 90 to the table. When theintercept blade is retracted (as shown in FIG. 1), actuating lever. is,moved; to close limit switch 32,. FIG. 4, which causes solenoid 74 toactuate valve. 76 to the .flow condition shown in box A. This exerts airpressure on. the top of piston 88 and exhausts the oil reservoirpressure thereby tending to lower the table. However, the table ismaintained in its top position because 2-way valves 92 and 94,controlled by solenoids 9.6 and 98, respectively, are in. their normallyclosed positions thereby maintaining sufficient pressure beneath piston.88 to overcome the pressure exerted above the piston. When limit switch32. is closed it energizes solenoid 100, which actuates valve 131 toadmitpressurc to-forming fingersv cylinder 102 to the left of piston 104and. ashaft 106 is connected through a linkage to the forming fingers tohold. them in advance position. When limit switch 38 is closed byabuild-up'in stack height, solenoid 98 actuates valve 94 to.openposition thereby exhausting pressure from under piston 88 to theextent permitted by needle type flow control valve 108. Valve 108 isadjusted to pass a. small flow so that the piston is lowered slowly. Assoon, as the table lowers a short distance limit switch 38. is againopened and this deenergizes solenoid. '98. thereby closing valve 94 andarresting the downward movement of the table. The intermittent tablelowering continues until stack height control shown in FIG. 3 tripslever 42 to close limit switch 44. When lever 42 is tripped, solenoid110. is energized which actuates valve 112 to the position shown in boxB. thereby building presure to the. right (asviewed in FIG. 7) of piston114 of the intercept blade cylinder 116'which movesrod 1 18 therebyadvancing the intercept blade into the extended position shown in FIG.4. When the intercept blade is'fully extended it actuates limit switch-52 which energizes. solenoid 120. which actuates valve 122 to. theposition shown in box B. thereby admitting air pressure into side bladecylinder 124. to the right of piston 126. Piston 126 is connected.through rod 128 to the side. blade to move the side blade into interceptposition. When the side blade reaches its extended position, it tripslimit switch 58 which closes and energizes solenoid 130 whichmoves valve131 to the position shown in box B thereby admitting air' to cylinder102 to the right of piston 104 so that the forming fingers are moved tointercept position. Limit switch'58 also energizes. a timer solenoid- 60which times out and then closes contact 61 to energize solenoid. 96which opens valve 92 which exhausts thepressure below piston 88 therebyquickly lowering the table. When the stack of signatures isdischargedand limit switch 66 is closed, solenoid 132 is energized and actuatesvalve 76- to the position shown in box B. Limit switch 66 also energizescontrol relay 134 which maintains itself through contact 136 andenergizes solenoid 98 and solenoid 96 by closing contacts 138 and 14.0,-respectively, so that fluidpressure freely passes through the valvesassociatedtherewith into cylina der 86 thereby raising the table. Whenthe table-reaches the top of its travelit closes limit switch 70 whichenergizes solenoid 142 which actuates valve 112 to the.posi-. tion.shown in box A, thereby moving piston. 114m the right to retract theintercept blade.. Limit switch 70- also energizes control relay 72 whichcloses contact 73 to energizesolenoid 144 which moves valve 122 to thebox A position to supply air pressure to theleft of piston 126 toretract the side blade. Control relay 72 also. opens contact 75 to dropout control. relay 134 and to deenergize solenoid 132, solenoid '98'andsolenoid- 96. which seals off the table cylinder below the pistonthereby maintaining suificient pressure therein to hold. the table inelevated position. When the intercept blade returns to retractedposition, it closes limit switch 32 thereby energizing solenoid 74 whichreturns valve 76 to the position. shown in box A. Limit switch. 32 alsoenergizes solenoid to actuate valve 131 to the position shown in box Bin which air is admitted to the right of piston 104 to advance theforming fingers to normal position. The abovedescribed cycle will thenbe repeated.

Although but two embodiments of the present invention have beenillustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in theart thatvarious changes-and modifications may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or the scope ofthe appendedclaims.

We claim:

1. In a machine for receiving an incoming stream of sheets and forstacking and aligning the edges of said sheets as they are stacked, astacking table on which the sheets are received from the incoming streamandon which the sheets are stacked in layers parallel to" the plane ofthe table, a plurality of rotatable members for contacting oppositesides of the sheets, means for sup? porting said rotatable members forrotation on axes nearly transverse to the plane of said table, means forrotating said members at a predetermined speed whereby portions of saidmembers contact opposite edges of said sheets as the latter arrive overthe table to advance and jog saidsheets to align the edges thereof, andstop means against which the leading edges of the sheets are stopped as,the sheets are advanced by the rotatable members to. align the leadingedges thereof as the sheets are stacked on the table.

2. The invention defined in claim 1, where; said means for rotating saidmembers comprises. means for driving said members at uniform peripheralspeeds slightly in excess of the speed of the incoming stream of sheets.

3. The invention defined in claim 1, together with means operative forlowering said stacking table'as said sheets are stacked thereon.

4. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said supporting meanscomprises means for supporting said rotatable members whereby their axesof rotation are at an angle to the plane of said table to provide adownward thrust on said sheets as they are advanced and jogged andstacked on said table.

5. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said rotatablememberscomprise paddle wheels having angularly spaced resilient vanes withedges of said vanes contacting the edges of the sheets in the stream.

6. The invention defined in claim 1 together withguide means, means forsupporting said guide means for automatic movement to deflect the streamdownwardly toward said stacking table or to allow said stream to enterwithout such deflection, an intercept blade, means for supporting saidintercept blade for movement into a stream receiving position, and meansfor controlling movement of said intercept blade in synchronism withsaid guide means.

7. The invention defined in claim 6, wherein said rotatable memberscomprise paddle wheels having radial vanes for engaging the oppositeedges of the sheets, the upper portions of said vanes having wings oflonger radial length than the lower portions thereof whereby said sheetswhile undefiected by said guide means are prevented from riding upwardlyon said paddle wheels.

8. The invention defined in claim 7, wherein said supportingmeanscomprises means for supporting said rotatable members so that their axesof rotation are at an angle less than ninety degrees to the plane ofsaid stacking table to impart a downward thrust on said stream of sheetsas advanced onto said intercept blade;

9. In a machine for stacking and aligning the edges of an incomingstream of sheets,,at least one pair of spaced resilient rotatablemembers, means for supporting said members so that the axes of rotationthereof are at a small angle to a plane perpendicular to the plane of asheet delivered between said members, said supporting means also spacingsaid members lightly to contact the opposite side edges of each sheetpassing therebetween, means for rotating said members so that opposedportions thereof advance said sheets, receiving means for collectingsheets passing between said members, means for aligning the leadingedges of said sheets collected on said receiving means whereby 'an evenedged stack of sheets is collected on said receiving means, stackdischarge means operable to remove a stack of sheets from said receivingmeans, and intercept means operable to receive sheets advanced by saidmembers during operation of said discharge means.

10. The invention defined in claim 9, whereinsaid stack discharge meanscomprises means for retracting said receiving means from its normalposition, and conveyor means for cooperation with said receiving meansin its fully retracted position to carry away the sheets stacked on saidreceiving means. a 11. The invention defined in claim 10, wherein saidintercept means is normally retracted from its sheet receiving positionwhen said receiving means is in its sheet receiving position, and meansfor operating said intercept means comprising means for extending saidintercept means into sheet receiving position when said receiving meansis retracted from its normal position.

12. The invention defined in claim 11, wherein said intercept meanscomprises :an intercept blade which is extendable into sheet receivingposition above the normal position of said receiving means, said bladehaving an elongated tip adjacent one longitudinal edge thereof, a sideblade extendable to overlap said tip of said intercept blade wherebyside folded sheets are guided to the top of :said intercept bladethereby preventingimpaling such sheets, and means responsive toextension of said intercept blade for controlling extension of said sideblade.

13. The invention defined in claim 11, wherein said intercept meanscomprisesan intercept blade which is extendable into sheet receivingposition above the normal position of said receiving means, and saidinterceptblade having an elongated tip at the center of the leading edgethereof for guiding leading edge folded sheets on top of said interceptblade.

14. The invent-ion defined in claim 9, together with guide meansnormally extended when said receiving means .is in its normal positionand being effective to direct sheets between said rotatable members, andmeans for retracting .said guide means during operation of saiddischarge'means whereby said guide means does not interfere with saidintercept means.

15. The invention defined in claim 10, together with means for graduallyretracting said receiving means in .response to stacking'of'sheetsthereon, and sensing means .for controlling full retraction of saidreceiving means .when the sheets stacked on said receiving means attaina predetermined height.

16. In a sheet stacker, a d jogger;

(a) a supporting frame;

(b) a stacking table mounted on said frame for receivin g sheets in ahorizontal plane;

(c) means for moving a stream of sheets onto said stacking table;

(d) a pair of rotatable jogger members;

(6) means mounting said members at opposite sides of said table so thatsaid stream of sheets is moved therebetween and each said memberhavingits axis of rotation in a vertical plane;

(3) means for rotating said jogger members in syn chronism inrespectively opposite directions;

(g) and means on said jogger members operative when rotated to engageconcurrently and intermittently opposite edges of each incoming sheet toadvance and jog the same thereby to aline the edges thereof with theedges of the preceding sheets in the stack.

17.The invention defined in claim 16, wherein said mounting. meanscomprises means maintaining the axes of rotation of said jogger membersleaning downstream so that they are at an acute angle to the surface ofsaid table whereby said jogger members impart to the sheets a downwardthrust.

'18. The invention defined in claim 16, wherein said means for rotatingsaid jogger members comprises means for imparting thereto peripheralspeeds slightly greater than the speed of the sheets whereby to impartto said sheets forward thrusts.

19. The invention defined in claim 16, wherein said means for movingsaid stream of sheets comprises a driven roller journaled in said framefor rotation on a horizontal axis for receiving a stream of sheets andfor injecting said stream of sheets between said jogger members.

20. The invention defined in claim 16, together with a second pair ofrotatable jogger members like said first pair thereof, said mountingmeans comprising means similarly mounting said second pair of joggermembers spaced in the direction of said stream from said first pair ofjogger members a distance whereby both pairs of members are effective toengage a single sheet, and said means for rotating said first pair ofjogger members comprises means for rotating said second pair of joggermembers in synchronism with said first pair thereof whereby additionaljogging and sheet edge alinement are obtained.

' 21. The invention defined in claim 16, together with: (a) meansresponsive to increase in the height of the Y stack on said table forcausing slow lowering of the table;

(b) means responsive to predetermined lowering of the table indicating afull stack for causing interception of the stream of sheets and fastlowering of the table;

(c) means responsive to lowering of the table fully for conveying thestack away therefrom;

(0.) means responsive to said stack being conveyed away for causing fastraising of the table;

(e) and means responsive to the table being raised for terminatinginterception of the stream of sheets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Kileet al., Apr.

1. IN A MACHINE FOR RECEIVING AN INCOMING STREAM OF SHEETS AND FORSTACKING AND ALIGNING THE EDGES OF SAID SHEETS AS THEY ARE STACKED, ASTACKING TABLE ON WHICH THE SHEETS ARE RECEIVED FROM THE INCOMING STREAMAND ON WHICH THE SHEETS ARE STACKED IN LAYERS PARALLEL TO THE PLANE OFTHE TABLE, A PLURALITY OF ROTATABLE MEMBERS FOR CONTACTING OPPOSITESIDES OF THE SHEETS, MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID ROTATABLE MEMBERS FORROTATION ON AXES NEARLY TRANSVERSE TO THE PLANE OF SAID TABLE, MEANS FORROTATING SAID MEMBERS AT A PREDETERMINED SPEED WHEREBY PORTIONS OF SAIDMEMBERS CONTACT OPPOSITE EDGES OF SAID SHEETS AS THE LATTER ARRIVE OVERTHE TABLE TO ADVANCE AND JOG SAID SHEETS TO ALIGN THE EDGES THEREOF, ANDSTOP MEANS AGAINST WHICH THE LEADING EDGES OF THE SHEETS ARE STOPPED ASTHE SHEETS ARE ADVANCED BY THE ROTATABLE MEMBERS TO ALIGN THE LEADINGEDGES THEREOF AS THE SHEETS ARE STACKED ON THE TABLE.